Tuesday 14 October 2014

Wheeled bins - a sad saga of disaffection



Our new wheeled bins of South Terrace were first put out in the back lane for collection on 17 June 2013. Then, we had but one black bin, collected each week, with fortnightly recycling from the front of the house.

Little did we know that Darlington Council's master plan was to move us seamlessly to fortnightly collections, expecting families to store their waste for up to 14 days. 

The council's consultation into the fortnightly recycling/waste collection service saw but 576 replies from residents. Of those 53.8% (310) said the changes would not impact on them, with 46.2 per cent (266 including mine) saying they would be affected. Given a population level of over 106,000, it is not clear what the remaining 105,424 (99.45%) Darlington residents thought - nor was it divulged what number supporting the changes were Darlington Council employees.

In a report prepared for their meeting on Tuesday 7 January 2014, Darlington Council responded to the concerns, pledging extra publicity and enforcement action to ensure people use their bins correctly.

Move on to Tuesday 14 October 2014. After over a year of having our bins collected in mid afternoon, refuse collectors attended without warning at 7.15 am. Those who had mistakenly taken their bins out on Monday (the former day for collection), and left them there, comprised the few lucky ones who had their bins emptied. Those of us who had returned them to their homes (incentivised by the threat of a £70 fine for leaving them out overnight) were not so lucky. Ours is the misfortune of now having to store our refuse for up to a month.

Today's thread on the South Terrace Facebook group page shows just how upset and disappointed many residents have become when facing a finger-wagging, dismissive, blaming commentary from Street Scene office staff. One resident described it thus, "Street Scene present a 'jobs-worth' attitude on the phone. No attempt to say that they are sorry, nor that they sympathise, no empathy, just a determination to say that the failed collection is all our fault".

Our councillors wish to have local people supporting Street Scene initiatives, and here at South Terrace we have done our share, with litter picking in Victoria Road, bulb planting, back lane maintenance and the formation of the award winning Gerald Lee Pocket Park. 

Now, I have to ask myself, where is the partnership? And why in circumstances, where the council has failed in its 7 January pledge, do they treat us with such disrespect?


7 comments:

  1. Dear Mr Twist,

    I would advise refuse and recycling collection is undertaken between the hours of 07.00 and 18.00, In this regard, correspondence forwarded to residents about the new service does state that bins should be placed out for collection by 7am on the correct day. I was contacted by councillor Hughes in relation to collections in South Terrace also and arranged for the vehicle to return to the lane to help those residents who were not aware of the 7am request. This revisit was scheduled for yesterday however, due to operational difficulties we did not manage to get back. I confirm that a team has visited South Terrace this morning and those bins still out for collection have been serviced. We will also take any excess materials residents place out adjacent to their bin on the next scheduled collection day to ensure all materials are collected accordingly.

    I trust this proves a satisfactory response to your enquiry.

    Thanks

    Brian



    Brian Graham
    Head of Environmental Services
    Darlington Borough Council

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brian
    Thank you for your reply. Please note my communication was a complaint, not an enquiry.

    Your department must understand that, in transition stages for changed services, it is not adequate to rely on general, non-specific notifications. South Terrace residents were used to an afternoon collection service, and your notification did not warn of a change, other than of date (which we published on your behalf through the South Terrace Facebook Group). Other organisations can notify and schedule times of service - why not Darlington Council?

    Most disappointing was the response to phone calls to Street Scene. I am told that the attitude projected was finger-wagging blame, rather than empathy with concerned residents. If DBC had been a commercial organisation, many residents would have switched providers due to their low level of satisfaction.

    Residents here have contributed directly to many Street Scene initiatives and sought to work in partnership with your department. There was no sense of partnership in the uncompromising telephone responses. It took complaints to our councillors Paul Harman and Cindi Hughes by residents before the failed Thursday collection was offered. By Friday, several residents had arranged self-help visits to the tip.

    We should be informed of changes to our services, before the changes are implemented. We expect empathetic responses to legitimate concerns. We had neither.

    In the circumstances, I do not accept that your response is satisfactory, and I ask that my complaint should proceed.

    Stephen Twist

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Mr Twist,

    It’s difficult to see what more could have been done to inform residents of the changes. Every household throughout the Borough received a leaflet over the August Bank Holiday weekend advising of the forthcoming changes and giving comprehensive information about the system. Every edition of the Darlington Together magazine (again delivered to every household) has ran an article on the new scheme for the past 6 months, the past two months being comprehensive and advising of all the changes including references to bins being placed out for 7am. Calendar’s advising of day changes were delivered with containers, Add to social media, websites, press etc., I am at a loss as to what more could be done. It would simply not be possible to knock on each door therefore other than the written communication to residents, I believe we have exhausted all avenues.

    In relation to telling people when we will be in the area, again, very difficult to do. Breakdowns, road closures, weather and various other operational difficulties mean it would be impossible to guarantee collections at a certain time. What we do therefore, is ask residents to ensure their bins/boxes are placed out for collection at the beginning of the working day (7am) to ensure collections are made. When changing routes in such a significant manner, inevitably times and days of collection change. Upon the system settling down, then residents will get an understanding of roughly what time the vehicle is due round therefore, they can place their bin/box out for collection to suit.

    In relation to responses to telephone calls, I will refer these to the Customer Services Manager for investigation.

    Yours sincerely,

    Brian

    Brian Graham
    Head of Environmental Services

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brian
    Sorry, you are missing the real focus of my concern. To promote publicity here, we too published the change of day through our community group which includes all of the South Terrace Residents - but we were totally unaware of, and unprepared for a proposed change of time.

    As your department had prepared a revised timetable, why not share this too on the council web 'Revised Weekly Collections' link? Whilst I accept that breakdowns etc may result in occasional changes, I do not accept that these precluded notifying a scheduled change of time from afternoon to morning collection. Historic afternoon collection and bin-raiding understandably deterred our residents from putting their bins out overnight.

    We could have lived with the initial teething issues of the scheme, but for the attitude of Street Scene when enquiries were made. Here, we are referring to responses made from your department for which you have responsibility as Head of Services. They were peremptory and unsympathetic. Again, we could have put up with the manner of response, but were dismayed by the clear and uncompromising policy that lay behind it, that under no circumstances could the failed collection be rectified this month. The enquiry you have authorised should not be with a Customer Services Manager in relation to delivery, but with yourself for the policy decision that no further assistance was to be given.

    May I make a couple of suggestions? Why not simply accept that:

    with hindsight, the proposed change of collection time could have been advised, albeit through the web site?
    to direct a policy that no allowances would be made into failed collections, was in the circumstances unwise and unkind?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Mr Twist,

    I think we will have to agree to disagree on this issue. As stated, we requested residents place their bins out for collection at 7am. This is a catch all to ensure all collections are undertaken. As the routes are new, we don’t know exactly what time the vehicle will be there. We have a model, but as I’m sure you are aware not all software does what it says on the tin.

    There was no failed collection, the vehicle visited South Terrace on the prescribed day. After the issue being raised with me by Cllr Hughes I agreed to revisit which we did later that week. We accept there will be teething problems when introducing such a significant change in service. By revisiting and undertaking subsequent collections, and also taking additional materials away until the service settles, I believe we are taking all reasonable steps to assist residents during the initial implementation phase.

    In relation to policy, I fully accept responsibility for any decisions taken however, as above, I do not believe we have failed in collecting materials from South Terrace. All reasonable steps were taken to inform residents of the changes and revisits thereafter prove a willingness to work with residents through this period.

    Whilst I brief Customer Services in relation to the new service, staff undertaking calls from the public do not fall within my remit. As stated, I have forwarded your concerns in relation to the manner of reply to the responsible manager.

    I accept you will not agree with my views and would suggest we work together in future weeks to ensure the correct message is forwarded to residents of South Terrace so collections in future can be undertaken without concern.

    Brian

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brian
    I do not agree with your analysis at all.

    It is your responsibility as Head of Service to prepare a tested and reliable model, and not simply to run out a new system on a wing and a prayer.
    There was a failed collection that on your declared policy, but for the councillor's intervention would have left residents with up to a month's refuse.
    You did not then address, and now appear not to be accepting that a proposed morning collection could prudently have been published on the web page.
    You are failing to appreciate that it is your policy briefing - i.e. the direction you gave to your staff, that is being questioned.
    You still haven't reflected any empathy to the South Terrace residents who had to arrange their own disposal to the tip.

    The last is the most important, but you appear too defensive to acknowledge this. Failing an apology to them, I make a formal complaint against your department, and seek independent investigation of my concerns.

    As you are aware, Councillors Hughes and Harman are being copied into this thread, as are the members of the South Terrace Residents Group.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Outcome
    Complaint 1
    a) dissatisfied with the Council’s publicity in relation to the change of time for refuse collections (you believe this should have been published via the Council’s website)
    Answer
    "I did not find a great deal of evidence to support the view that the general change to collection times was effectively communicated to residents. As such, I partly uphold your complaint and apologise that this change did not feature more prominently in our publicity in the run up to the implementation of the revised scheme".
    Complaint 2
    b) dissatisfied with the attitude of Street Scene staff having made enquiries about the matter;
    Answer
    "I apologise if that was not your experience. I have raised your concerns with Mr Thompson, Assistant Director, Community Services. It is certainly not our intention to appear unsympathetic or unkind and I apologise that was the impression you got. I hope my response resolves this matter to your satisfaction".

    ReplyDelete